Global survey finds businesses need to do more to attract ...

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Out to Succeed: Realising the full potential of LGBT+ talent Global survey finds businesses need to do more to attract and support LGBT+ talent

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LGBT+ inclusion: What's at stake

Businesses succeed in an environment that enables diverse talent to thrive. Both the business leaders and employees from different companies and industries around the world taking part in the OutNEXT/PwC Out to Succeed survey highlight the extent to which a supportive and targeted focus on LGBT+ inclusion is a valuable brand differentiator, performance enhancer, and talent draw.

"Focusing actively on the LGBT+ community in the workplace is absolutely critical."

Jes Staley, Group Chief Executive, Barclays

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This inclusion can:

Out to Succeed

Provide access to a huge market:

The global spending power of LGBT+ consumers is estimated to be more than

$5 trn

a year, according to LGBT Capital. An even bigger pool is what Out Leadership calls the "Ally Marketplace," those consumers who identify as allies to the LGBT+ community, which could reach 8-10 times the size of the LGBT+ market.

Act as a brand influencer:

78%

of LGBT+ people and their friends, family, and relatives would switch to brands that are known to be LGBT+ friendly according to Community Marketing & Insights. Here again, allies are an important and influential component.

Attract talent:

More than

80%

of LGBT+ and non-LGBT+ millennials (people born between 1980 and 1995) say that an employer's policies on diversity, equality, and workforce inclusion are an important factor when deciding whether to work for them, according to PwC research.

Boost share performance:

A number of companies have created portfolios to invest in LGBT+ friendly companies, showing that overall, such companies outperform the market. The Workplace Equality Index, which measures the share performance of corporations that support fairness and equality for LGBT+ employees, outperformed the S&P 500 Index return in the ten years up to 2016.

But what do high-potential LGBT+ employees want from employers, and are businesses delivering? What more should organisations do to support LGBT+ talent and capitalise on this potential? These are the questions the OutNEXT/PwC Out to Succeed survey seeks to answer in this report.

About the OutNEXT/PwC Out to Succeed Survey:

The 231 LGBT+ employees from around the world who participated in the OutNEXT/PwC Out to Succeed survey are people identified by their employers as high performers or individuals with leadership potential. Very few of these participants identified as transgender, and so although gender identity issues in the workplace can overlap with those of sexual orientation, this report does not specifically focus on them. (For simplicity, this report uses the term `LGBT+' throughout). The 28 corporate leaders in our employer sample are drawn from Out Leadership member companies. See page 24 for a detailed methodology.

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Most employee respondents work for Out Leadership member companies, which are active promoters of LGBT+ inclusion. Because of that, presumably these companies should be in the best position to benefit from inclusion. Yet, only around a third of the employees in our survey (35%) believe that their companies leverage LGBT+ inclusion for a business advantage.

To be sure, companies are making great progress toward inclusion. If we think of the hostility and discrimination that many LGBT+ employees have faced (and still face in some of the places we surveyed), the findings show that important strides are being made. More than 80% of the LGBT+ employees in our survey said they feel comfortable being out at work. More than 90% of employers believe that being out in the workplace has had a positive impact on LGBT+ talent's ability to do business and engage with customers.

Yet, even within the relatively supportive businesses in our survey, there is much more we can do to support LGBT+ equality. Developing leaders want to work for an organisation where they feel valued, where they're supported, and where they feel confident that they will have the chance to succeed. Yet, less than 30% of the businesses we asked have programmes specifically focused on the retention, development, and progression of LGBT+ talent. Many of the LGBT+ employees who do have access to such programmes aren't even aware that they exist.

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"We have 11 million customers and many of them will be LGBT+, BAME [people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities] women etc. If we don't talk about them, you won't create the right products. This is the world in which we operate, and we need products that work for all."

Amanda Blanc, Former Group Chief Executive, AXA UK and Ireland

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If LGBT+ employees don't feel they can bring their whole selves to work, or that they won't be able to realise their full potential within their current organisation, they'll vote with their feet by looking for opportunities elsewhere. They'll also tell their friends and family that this isn't a business that's living up to its promises on inclusion, which could have a detrimental impact on the brand. If there is a significant disconnect between LGBT+ talent aspiration and experience in businesses that are keen to promote inclusion, the gaps in less committed companies are likely to be even greater.

Some of the disconnect can be explained by timing: The initial focus on diversity within many corporations tended to be gender-based and was only broadened to include minority groups such as LGBT+ more recently. The focus on inclusion regarding gender identity is more recent. Businesses have thus had less time to develop effective programmes. Therefore, while employers want to move forward on LGBT+ inclusion, this is still a learning curve and they aren't always clear about what their LGBT+ talent wants, what progress they are making in meeting these expectations, and the priorities for action and change.

In highlighting what makes an employer attractive to LGBT+ talent and how these employees believe organisations can strengthen inclusion, we aim to identify just how wide the current gap is between what employees want in an employer, and what employers are delivering. Then, drawing on the findings, we set out five recommendations for advancing LGBT+ inclusion around the world, enabling developing leaders to succeed.

None of this can be achieved overnight. Even foundational measures such as equality in benefits for partners took many years. Moreover, more than 70 countries still have legislation that is hostile to LGBT+ people. Yet, by offering the best possible working environment and career opportunities for LGBT+ talent, businesses can gain an important edge. And by promoting fairness and equality within the markets they operate, businesses can continue to exert one of the most powerful influences to change society.

We would like to thank all the participants for kindly sharing their valuable experiences and insights. We hope that this report is the start of a deeper conversation on how businesses around the world can develop top LGBT+ talent.

Todd Sears Founder and Principal, Out Leadership

Jon Terry Partner, PwC

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